Thursday, December 31, 2009

Wow, it's been ages since I painted a still life! So far, it's been fun. I should do more of them.

When I stopped yesterday, I was just hitting the point when the painting was not cooperating and I wanted to start over. Every painting has that point. I don't normally like to stop at that point -- it's best just to keep going and work through it. Otherwise, it's difficult to pick it back again later.

However, I had to stop. And here it is so far. It's about half finished. It's not too bad. The shapes need some definition, the fruits need some shadows to give them some weight, and the background is iffy. Another hour or two and it will be fine.

The fruits are panache figs. They're yellow and green striped on the outside. When ripe, the flesh inside turns a gorgeous red and tastes just like strawberry jam. Absolutely heavenly!

The painting is 8 x 10 inches on a stretched canvas. I'm using acrylics.

Normally, when I do still lifes, I use a limited palette -- one shade each of red, yellow, blue, and white. Yesterday, I put 2 shades of each on my palette, plus raw sienna and Payne's gray and a green. I think all the color choices were a bit much. Live and learn.